Refrigerating apparatus



March 23, 1937. E, sc w 2,074,435

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 26, 1-932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 z/6' as ms ATTORNEYS.

E. F. SCHWELLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. [mm/Am I Sexweuez,

MM. HIS ATTORNEYS- March 23, 1937.

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 26, 1932 Patented Mar. 23,1937 PATENT OFFICE REFRIGERATING srrsasrus Edmund F. Schweller, Dayton,Ohio, assignol: to General Motors Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, a

corporation of Delaware Original application November 26, 1932, SerialNo.

644, 73. Divided and this application September 25, 1935, SerialNo.42,084

10 Claims. (Q1. -35) The present invention relates to refrigeratingapparatus and particularly to the construction of a door for arefrigerator cabinet and this application is a division of myco-pendingapplication,

r Serial No. 644,473, filed Nov. 26, 1932. Heretofore doors employed forclosing the access opening of refrigerator cabinets have been built witha heavy framework to which was fastened an inner metal panel and on theoutside of which was fastened an outer metal panel. Between the panelsand framework there has been provided insulation, such as cork, whichhas been scaled by dipping in or covering it with hot asphalt to preventthe ingress of moisture thereto. Such doors have not been'entirelysatisfactory in that they are objectionably heavy, that they require alarge amount of labor and that they are relatively expensive to produce.

An object of my invention is to provide a door for a refrigeratorcabinet with improved insulating material therein.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved door for arefrigerator cabinet in which the metal outer walls or panels form themain structural strength or framework of the door, so as to permit aslight in weight construction as possible.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparentfrom the following description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein a preferred form of the Present invention is clearlyshown.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a refrigeratorcabinet having a door constructed in accordance with the presentinvention secured thereto; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse sectionalview taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1 showing the construction of the doorof the present invention; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of amodified form of the door;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section of a further modification of the door;and Fig. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 with the rubbermember shown in Fig. 4 omitted.

In order to illustrate the present invention, I

have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a refrigerator cabinet it which maybe constructed as fully described in my co-pending application abovereferred to. The cabinet Ill comprises a plurality of insulated walls Iisurrounding a food storage compartment provided in the cabinet. A door12 of general rectangular form serves as a 55 closure member for anopening which provides access to the refrigerated food compartment inmetal member I! (see Fig. 2) which forms the back panel thereof and hasflanged edges it which are fastened to wooden connecting strips H bysuitable wood screws l8. The front of door I2 is formed by a flat sheetmetal member is which has its edges 21 curled over the outer edges ofthe connecting strips H, but spaced and insulated from the edges l6 ofthe rear panel 15. The connecting strips ii are fastened by means ofthemachine screws 22 to bracket member 23 which is preferably spotwelded to the sheet metal member l9. At the rear of the connecting stripii, there is provided a rubber air seal 24 which is adapted to engageand seal against the outer surface of cabinet Ill about the door openingthereof. The rubber air seal 24 extends around the periphery of door l2and has a forked end portion with one of the forks 25 fastened beneaththe flange IQ of the pan member l4, while the other fork 26 extends overand covers the flanged portion 16 of the pan member l5 and therebycovers the wood screws l8. It will be understood that four such stripsII are employed in the construction of the door l2 and that these stripsare separate from one another and independently assembled in the door.In order to properly insulate the door it, I provide an insulating panelgenerally represented by the reference character 28 therein. Thisinsulating panel 28 is preferably placed in the door l2 after the stripsII have been secured to the brackets 23 and prior to placing pan memberIS in position. The

panel 28 is made of a plurality of rectangular frames 3| which arepreferably of some light in weight and low heat conducting material suchas wood. These frames 3| have sheets of bright, metallic foil 32stretched thereon and fastened thereto by any suitable adhesivesubstance. After the foil 32 is applied to the frames 3|, these framesare stacked and fastened together to provide the insulating panel 28 ofpredetermined thickness. .lihus the sheets of bright, metallic foil 32are held in spaced apart relation relative to one another to provide airspaces 34 between them. On each of the outer sides of the panel 28,there is provided a sheet of water proof paper 35 which is adapted tobear against the inner surface of the metal pans l5 and it afterassembly of the door I! has been completed. After the wood strips I!have been secured to the brackets 23 on panel l9 to form a rigidstructure about the flanged edges 2| thereof and after having positionedthe insulating panel 28 in position intermediate the spaced apart stripsI1, the pan-shaped member I5 is then assembled over the structure. Theforks 25 and 26 of the gasket or air seal 24 are slipped over the edgeI6 of the member I5 and member I5 is thereafter secured to the strip I!by the wood screws I8 to complete the structure. Any suitable ordesirable latch and hinges may be secur'ed to the door I2 for providinga pivotal mounting of the door I2 on cabinet II). By this type of doorconstruction a light weight insulating barrier of considerable thicknessis placed between the outer metal panels thereof.

In Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive of the drawings, a modified form of doorconstruction generally represented by the reference character 40 isshown for the cabinet disclosed in Fig. 1. In this modified construction40, a deep, metal, pan-shaped member 4| is provided with a flanged edgeportion 42. An insulating panel generally represented by the numeral 43is made up of a plurality of substantially rectangularly shaped frames44 having sheets of bright metallic foil 45 therebetween.

The insulating panel 43 is placed between the deep pan 4| and the frontmetal member 41 of door 4|]. A thick rubber member 5| is providedbetween the flanged edge 42 of the pan-shaped member 4| and the recessedattaching portion 49 of the outer sheet metal member 41. This rubbermember 5| extends entirely around the door and is provided with anintegral air sealing portion 53 which extends therefrom and restsagainst the curled edge portion 48 of the outer member 41. The attachingportion 49 of member 41 is recessed sufliciently to accommodate thethick rubber member 5|. This rubber member 5| thus acts as an insulationbetween the panshaped member 4| and the outer metal member 41 of thedoor 40.

In order to fasten the members 4|, 41 and 5| together, with theinsulating panel 43 between the metal members 4| and 41, I provide brassscrews 55 which extend through the flanged edge portions 42 of thepan-shaped member 4| and are threaded into a tapped extruded portion 56provided upon the recessed fastening portion 49 of the outer member 41.In order to cover the brass screws 55, the rubber member 5| is made in asort of forked design so that a lip or extension 58 of rubber providedthereon extends over the heads of the brass screws and flanged edge 42of the pan-shaped member 4|. It will be seen that the modified doorconstruction 40 comprises a minimum of elements which are namely, theinsulating panel 43, the pan-shaped member 4|, the outer sheet metalmember 41 and the rubber member 5|. This greatly simplifies theconstruction of doors and lowers the cost of doors by providing a verythick and light weight insulation between walls of the doors. Theprovision of the rubber member 5| between the pan-shaped member 4| andthe outer metal member 41 prevents the conduction of heat from theexterior of the door to the interior thereof by the metal walls.

The screws 55 and the connecting portion thereof in contact with member41 is so small that heat leak through the screws is negligible.

It is possible to entirely eliminate heat leakage by conduction throughscrews 55 and I have shown in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings, anarrangement for accomplishing this feature of the invention. In theconstruction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 slots 5|, of substantially key holeform,

are cut in the recessed attaching portion 49 of the outer metal member41. Within the smaller portion 62 of slot 6| (see Fig. 5) 'there areslidably inserted nuts 63 formed of a material having low heatconducting properties such as hard rubber or fiber each of which isprovided with a squared groove 64 upon its periphery for engaging theedges of the narrow portion 62 of slot 6| so that the nuts 53 will betightly held against rotation during the act of turning the screws 55thereinto. The construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is otherwise similarto that shown in Fig. 3 and it is obvious that the insulating nuts 53prevent transference of heat from the one metal member 41 to the othermetal member 4| of the door 40 through screws 55.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided improved doorconstructions for closing an access opening provided in a refrigeratorcabinet. My improved doors are light in weight, thus eliminating wear ofthe hinges employed pivotally mounting the door on a cabinet and therebypreventing sagging of the door. My invention provides doors that arehighly eflicient for insulating the interior of a cabinet fromatmosphere exterior thereof.

While the forms of embodiments of the invention as herein disclosed,constitute preferred forms, it is to be understood that other formsmight be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims whichfollow.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. A refrigerator door construction including an outer sheet metalmember having a curledin edge, said edge portion being curled and havinga fastening portion extending inwardly therefrom, a thick rubber gasketmember mounted upon the fastening portion, said fastening portion beingrecessed with respect to the curled portion to form a ledge toaccommodate the thick gasket member, a deep pan-shaped inner sheet metalmember having a flanged edge, insulation between the inner and outersheet metal members, the flanged edge of the inner sheet metal memberresting against the thick rubber gasket member and being insulated fromthe outer sheet metal member by the thick gasket member, and fasteningmeans for fastening the flanged edge of the inner member to thefastening portion of the outer member.

2. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, an insulating strip interposed betweenthe fastening portion of said one of said members and the flanged edgeof the other of said members, and means for securing the fasteningportion of said one of said members to the flanged edge of the other ofsaid members with the insulating strip therebetween.

3. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extendingfrom' the curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having aflanged edge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fasteningportion of said one of said facing members, an insulating stripinterposed between the fastening portion of said one of said members andthe flanged edge of the other of said members, and means for securingthe fastening portion of said one of said members to the flanged edge ofthe other of said members with the insulating strip therebetween, saidinsulating strip having an integral resilient gasket seal portionextending over the curled-in edge of said one facing member and adaptedto engage a wall of an opening to be closed by said door.

4. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, an insulating strip interposed betweenthe fastening portion of said one of said members and the flanged edgeof the other of said members, and means for securing the fasteningportion of said one of said members to the flanged edge of the other ofsaid members with the insulating strip therebetween, said insulatingstrip having an integral resilient gasket seal portion extending overthe curled-in edge of said one facing member and adapted to engage awall of an opening to be closed by said door, said insulating strip alsohaving an integral flexible lip portion fitting over the flanged edge ofsaid other facing members and concealing said securing means.

5. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, said fastening portion being recessedwith respect to the curledin portion of said one of said members andforming a ledge for receiving an insulating strip, an insulating stripinterposed between the recessed fastening portion of said one of saidmembers and the flanged edge of the other of said members, and means forsecuring the fastening portion of said one of said members to theflanged edge of the other of said members with the insulating striptherebetween. Y

6. A refrigerator door construction includin a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, said fastening portion being recessedwith respect to the curled-in portion of said one of said members andforming a.ledge for receiving an insulating strip,- an insulating stripinterposed between the recessed fastening portion of said one of saidmembers and the flanged edge of the other of said members, and means forsecuring the fastening portion of said one of said members to theflanged edge of the other of said members with the insulating striptherebetween, said insulating strip having an integral resilient gasketseal portion extending over the curled-in edge of'said one facing memberand adapted to engage a wall of an opening to be closed by said door.

7. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members hav-- ing an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, said fastening portion being recessedwith respect to thecurled-in portion of said one of said members andforming a ledge for receiving an insulating strip, an insulating stripinterposed between the recessed fastening portion of said one of saidmembers and the flanged edge of the other of said members, and means forsecuring the fastening portion of said one of said members to theflanged edge of the other of said members with the insulating striptherebetween, said insulating strip having an integral res lient gasketseal portion extending over the curled-in edge of said one facing memberand adapted to engage a wall of an opening to be closed by said door,said insulating strip also having an integral flexible lip portionfitting over the flanged edge of said other facing member and concealingsaidsecuring means.

8. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, said fastening portion being recessedwith respect to the curled-in portion of said one of said members andforming a ledge for receiving an insulating strip, a molded rubber stripinterposed between the recessed fastening portion of said one of saidmembers and the flanged edge of the other of said members, and means forsecuring the fastening portion of said one of said members to theflanged edge of the other of said members with the molded rubber striptherebetween.

9. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted tobe secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, said fastening portion being reeessedwith respect to the curled-in portion of said one of sad members andforming a ledge for receiving an insulating strip, a molded rubber stripinterposed between the recessed fastening portion of said one of saidmembers and the flanged edge of the other of said members, and means forsecuring the fastening portion of said one of said members to theflanged edge of the other of said members with the molded rubber onefacing member and adapted to engage a wall of an opening to be closed bysaid door.

10. A refrigerator door construction including a sheet metal facingmember, a second sheet metal facing member, insulation between saidfacing members, one of said facing members having an edge curledinwardly of the periphery thereof and a fastening portion extending fromthe curled-in edge, the other of said facing members having a flangededge lying along and adapted to be secured to the fastening portion ofsaid one of said facing members, said fastening portion being recessedwith respect to the curled-in portion of said one of said members andforming a ledge for receiving an insulating strip, a molded rubber stripinterposed between the recessed fastening portion of said one of saidmembers and the flanged edge of the other of said members, and means forsecuring the fastening portion of said one of said members to theflanged edge of the other of said members with the molded rubber striptherebetween, said molded rubber strip having an integral hollowresilient gasket seal portion extending over the curled-in edge of saidone facing member and adapted to engage a wall of an opening to beclosed by said door, said molded rubber strip also having an integralflexible lip portion fitting over the flanged edge of said other facingmember and concealing said securing means.

EDMUND F. SCHWELLER.

